Helicopter



Num 4 ,9 i924.

AT1 WE? R. B. Hl

BELILGDFTER @riginal iF-ilfekd Aug. '13

mimi

Nov. 4, 1924. v 1,514,046 y R. B. HINKLY HELICOPTER "Original Filed Aug.15 1923 2 Shrubs-Sheena,I '2

WITNESS:

Patented Nov. 4, 1924.

UNITED STATES RAY B. HINKLY, CF LUVEBNE, MINNESOTA.

HELICOPTER.

Application led August 13, 1923, Seriell No. 657,002. Renewed August 19,1924.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, RAY B. HINKLY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Luverne, in the county of Rock and State of Minnesota, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Helicopters, .of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates generally to aeroplanes, and has for its object,the provision of means whereby the plane can ascend and descendperpendicular, thereby requiring but a small area or space for landing.

More specically stated, the invention embodies amongst other features astationary lower plane and a movable upper plane, the latter beingassociated with means formoving the same toward and away from thestationary plane while the machine is ascending, the respective planesbeing made up of hingedly mounted vanes or shutters. The vanes of theupper plane are automatically opened when the upper plane is elevated toallow the air to pass through the -plane so that said upper plane canrise without any material air resistance, the shutters or vanes beingautomatically closed as said upper plane is lowered, thereby providing alarge area or bearing surface so that the air pressure can elevate themachine.

In the drawings forming part of this ap plication, like numerals of.reference indicate similar parts in the several views, and

wherein:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the machine. Figure 2 is a sectional viewtaken on the line 2 2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view in elevation.

Figure 4 is a sectional view through one `of the planes showing thevanes or shutters thereof closed.

Figure 5 is a view similar` to Figure 4 showing the vanes or shutterspartly opened lloy full lines and fully opened by dotted mes.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary view of one of the operating shafts of theupper plane.

Referring to the drawings lin detail, Aindicates generally an aeroplaneof any suitable construction, which includes a lower plane B upon whichis mounted a suitable supportingstructure 10 and held stationary withembodies an upper plane The machine also C which is mounted on spaceduprights 11, the latter being mounted to slide through bearings 12formrelation to the fuselage.

ing part` of the supporting structure 10 above referred to. This plane Gis adapted to be moved in a vertical plane toward and awa from thestationary plane B when the mac iine is in operation, or in other wordswhen the machine is ascending perpendicularly. Any suitable means may beemployed for controlling the movement of the upper plane C, but Ipreferably make use of a plurality of spaced parallel shafts including apower shaft l14 which may be driven from a motor or in any othersuitable manner, and shafts 15 disposed at either side ofthe powershaft, and each of which supports a sprocket wheel 16. An endless chain17 is trained over theysprockets 16 and also trained over a largersprocket 17 carried by the power shaft 14, so that the shafts 15 arerotated in unison from the power shaft. Each shaft 15 is provided with acrank portion 18, the latter being connected with the adcilacent uprightsupport for the upper plane through the instrumentality of'a connectingrod 19. Manifestl when the power shaft is in operation, t e upper planeC is reciprocated toward and away from the stationary plane B, but bystopping the rotation of the power shaft 14 in any suitable manner, theupper plane C can be held against vmovement in either its upper or lowerposition.

' It will be noted that each of the planes B and C respectively, is madeup of aplurality of vanes or shutters 20 which are pivoted as at 21 onsuitable brackets 22 carried by supporting rods 23. It is of course tobe understood that any number of these vanes or shutters can be used foreach plane, and

can also vary in size Without departing from the spirit of theinvention. When the vanes or shutters are closed they lie horizontallyin overlapped relation as clearly shown in Figure 4, but swingdownwardly in-to dferent positions when open as shown in Figure 5. Thesepivoted .vanes or shutters when closed provide a proper area or bearingsurface for the air pressure to allow the machine to be raised and whenopened reduce the air resistance while the plane is ascending. Inpractice, the plane C is continuously moved toward and away from theplane B as long as the ower shaft'14is rotated, which of course 1s whilethe plane is being elevated. When the plane 'C is thus moved upwardly,the air pressure automatically opens the vanes or shutters to thepositions shown in Figure 5, thereby allowingthe air to pass throughthis plane and subsequently open the shutters of the plane B in asimilar manner. Just as soon as the upper plane ceases to move upwardlthe pressure of air below will automatically cause the vanes or shuttersto assume a closed positlon to provide a proper bearing surface for theair pressure necessary to ele-y vate the machine.

While it is believed that from the foregoing description, the nature andadvantages of the invention will be readily apparent, I desire to haveit understood that I do g not limit myself to what is herein shown anddescribed and that such changes may be resorted to When desired asl fallWithin the scope of what is claimed,

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

An aeroplane adapted to ascendand de# scend perpendicular?, saidaeroplane 1ncluding a stationary oWer plane, means supported by saidlower planes and including spaced vertically extending sleeves, amovable upper plane, rods passing through said sleeves and .connected tothe upper plane, means for reciprocating said rods to reciprocate theupper plane, each of said planes including a plurality of pivoted vanesadapted to overlapvvhen in closed position, and the vanes of each saidplanes adapted to automatically open as the upper plane is elevated andadapted to automatically close when said upper plane reaches the limitof its upward movement. Y v

lIn testimony vvhereof I aix my signature.

RAY B. HINKLY.

